Rebels vs Force – who will draw first blood?

The Melbourne Rebels and Western Force are set to kick off the 2013 Super Rugby season with an all-Australian clash that either team will be eager to claim.

Both teams became familiar with the bottom-half of the Australian conference in the 2012 Super Rugby tournament, and with the Rebels’ star acquisitions last season, coach Damien Hill will finally be looking for the Rebels’ investments to pay off.

Most notably, all eyes will be on Kurtley Beale and James O’Connor to inject their attacking flair from the get-go, with Beale looking to follow up his impressive performance from the Wallabies’ UK tour, and O’Connor making his anticipated return following on-going injury throughout most of 2012.

The two, along with the unpredictable nature of Nick Phipps, should cause the Force some headaches; while the forward pack, led by Gareth Delve, have enough grunt to meet the Force up front, particularly with the addition of new Rebels recruit, Scott Higginbotham.

On the other side of the field will be the Western Force, who will be without the strength and presence of Matt Hodgson, as the side tries to meet the physicality of the Rebels.

The Force will be looking to use their experience and attacking options, with Ben McCalman and the other loose forwards needing to step up to compensate for Hodgson’s absence.

The new additions to the Western Force set-up, former Cheetahs fly-half  Sias Ebersohn and former Blues scrumhalf Alby Matherson, will be the go-to men for the attacking answers.

Wallaby winger Nick Cummins was in fine form in the outgoing tour at the end of 2012, and his pace and power should be utilised by the backline to punch holes in the Rebels defence.

Rebels – 15 James O’Connor, 14 Lachlan Mitchell, 13 Mitch Inman, 12 Rory Sidey, 11 Richard Kingi, 10 Kurtley Beale, 9 Nick Phipps, 8 Gareth Delve (c), 7 Scott Fuglistaller, 6 Scott Higginbotham, 5 Luke Jones, 4 Hugh Pyle, 3 Laurie Weeks, 2 Ged Robinson, 1 Nic Henderson.
Subs: 16 Shota Horie, 17 Paul Alo-Emile, 18 Cadeyrn Neville, 19 Jarrod Saffy, 20 Nic Stirzaker, 21 Alex Rokobaro, 22 Tom English.

Force – 15 Will Tupou, 14 Patrick Dellit, 13 Winston Stanley, 12 Kyle Godwin, 11 Alfie Mafi, 10 Sam Christie, 9 Alby Mathewson, 8 Ben McCalman, 7 Chris Alcock, 6 Angus Cottrell, 5 Toby Lynn, 4 Sam Wykes, 3 Tetera Faulkner, 2 Nathan Charles, 1 Pek Cowan (c).
Subs: 16 Heath Tessmann, 17 Kieran Longbottom, 18 Phoenix Battye, 19 Richard Brown, 20 Mick Snowden, 21 Sias Ebersohn, 22 Junior Rasolea.

Rugby Informer’s take: the Rebels have the forwards to control the breakdown, while the backline, with Beale at playmaker, should set the stage for a Rebels win. Rebels by 15.

James O’Connor is part of Rugby Informer’s 5 AU backs to watch out for feature. Check it out here.